Did You Fix Dinner Last Night?

I was talking with a friend awhile back who was complaining about her husband. She told her husband the night before that she was going to go and "cook" dinner. He had said, "no, you don't cook dinner, you fix dinner." Of course she told him that she DID cook dinner. His response was that no she didn't... cooking dinner was from scratch. Pulling a frozen pizza or pre-made dinner out and throwing it in the oven was simply "fixing" dinner. As the good friend and "blonde girl" that I am, I told her that he's correct - she fixes dinner. You can probably guess at how well that went over!

But when you think of giving your family nutritious food, remember that there is a difference between cooking and fixing your meals. Cooking is wholesome, fresh, real-food ingredients with little or no preservatives or chemicals. Fixing is quick, convenient, usually high in chemicals, preservatives, sodium and artificial ingredients. Not that we all can't use the convenience of fixing dinner at times, but it's meant to be that... a convenience that is used rarely. And really most of our convenience foods only seem convenient because some food company told us so. And if you don't believe me, take pancakes for example... To use a baking mix that is full of artificial ingredients such as Bisquick you need 3 ingredients, Bisquick, milk & eggs. To make pancakes on your own, you need 4 ingredients... egg, flour, milk & salt. Maybe it's just me, but adding one more ingredient seems like a small price to pay for a healthier meal. 

Danielle Wirick, MS, CSCS is the owner of Iron Fitness Personal Training, a premier personal fitness training facility. Our mission is to train our clients to reach new levels of physical health. Iron Fitness strives to be the tipping point that moves our clients forward towards lifelong health and wellness. More information on Danielle or her business can be found at www.ironfitnesspt.com or facebook.com/ironfitnesspt.